EMEA News
Nigeria Tanker Ban Permanent, but Rates and Trading Said to be Unaffected
Nigerian maritime lawyers say there is little chance of a ban being lifted that is stopping around 100 tankers from entering the country's territorial waters, Platts reports.
As Ship & Bunker reported earlier the ban was imposed on July 15 by state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) following a directive from the West African country's new president, Muhammadu Buhari.
The exact number of tankers affected by the ban is unclear, as while initial reports put the number at 113, other reports note duplicate entries have been made for the same vessel putting the actual total at just under 100.
While NNPC has not provided specific reasons for the ban, which includes 49 tankers affiliated with the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), some sources have speculated it represents efforts by Buhari to eliminate corruption in the oil sector, something which has been estimated to cost the country as much as $35 million per day.
However others have suggested that even if this is the motive, the ban will cause more harm than the malpractice it aims to prevent.
"In the end, it's going to make a much bigger problem for Nigeria than tanker owners," Ehsan Ul-Haq, senior market consultant with KBC Energy was quoted as saying.
An unnamed maritime lawyer quoted by Platts has warned the owners of the banned vessels that "until the current issues are resolved, I would advise owners not to trade any of the banned ships in Nigeria."
"If a ship on the list comes to Nigeria, I would expect the ship to be arrested and detained by the Nigerian navy," he said, adding that under the country's Miscellaneous Offences Act the ships could be forfeited to the government and the crew could face life imprisonment.
Michele White, general counsel at INTERTANKO, said that despite inquiries about the ban, "So far it has been one-way communication with the Nigerian authorities."
Another unnamed lawyer said that while the ban is unlikely to be lifted, it is possible that more ships could be added, or others removed from the list.
Meanwhile, a shipbroker told Platts that although Nigeria is a major exporter of crude, freight rates, physical trading of Nigerian crude, and crude values have all remained unaffected by the ban.
"The owners can just use other ships in their fleets for Nigerian cargoes if they have ships on the list," they said.
In July as investigation into a sample of 75 vessels on the banned vessel list reportedly showed that only 14 had been to Nigeria or surrounding countries within the previous 180 days.
